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Article abstract: William Sydney Porter advanced the state of American short stories and made his pen name of O. Henry synonymous with surprise endings. In a little more than one decade, he published more than two hundred stories in magazines and books, some of which are still well known one century later.
Early Life
The life of William Sydney Porter was much like the literature he wrote as O. Henry: a short story punctuated by unforeseen twists. His opening took place in the North Carolina mountain town of Greensboro, where he was born in the midst of the Civil War and grew up under the postwar occupation government.
His father, Algernon Sidney Porter, had a well-known drinking problem and no medical degree, but he was known as the best doctor in the county. His mother, Mary Jane Virginia Swaim, died of tuberculosis when Porter was only three years old. Porter and his older brother Shirley ("Shell") were mostly raised in their grandmother's boarding house by their Aunt Lina, a schoolteacher who encouraged Porter's love of books. By age ten, he was reading Charles Dickens and Sir Walter Scott. At fifteen he left school and became an apprentice pharmacist in his uncle's drugstore, just as his father had done. Four years later, he was a licensed pharmacist.
In March of 1882, Porter went to Texas with family friends, hoping that the Texas climate would help his persistent, racking cough. He spent two years on the Dull-Hall Ranch near Cotulla, where he lived as a sheltered guest in Dick Hall's home doing very little real ranch work. He sent some stories and letters to Greensboro, some of which appeared in the local newspaper.
In 1884, the Halls deposited Porter in Austin, the state capital. He worked briefly in a pharmacy and then part-time in a cigar store, but mostly he did little for two and one-half years but socialize, sing in a quartet and church choirs, and serenade women. Late in 1886, he was given a job as a real-estate bookkeeper. He learned this job quickly, but soon moved to a $100-per-month job as a draftsman in Hall's new Texas Land Office. Many of his later stories drew on the experiences of his four years there. In January, 1891, Hall had lost his gubernatorial bid, so his job as land commissioner and Porter's job as draftsman both ended. Within one month, however, Porter's friends got him a new job as a bank teller, also at $100 per month.
Meanwhile, Porter's serenading had been fruitful. A rather normal-looking but foppish man at a height of 5 feet 7 inches, with broad shoulders, blue eyes, chestnut brown hair, and a fashionable mustache, he eloped with young Athol Estes on July 1, 1887, less than three weeks after her graduation from high school. Athol apparently stimulated Porter into more frequent writing, as he sold some humorous items to the Detroit Free Press in 1887. On May 6, 1888, they had a son who died only hours after birth. This seems to have begun the decline in Athol's health that finally resulted in her death nine years later. On September 30, 1889, she bore their only other child, Margaret.
Life's Work
In March, 1894, Porter and a partner bought a struggling scandal sheet and its press and used it to publish humorous commentary and stories, many of them poking fun at the large German community of central Texas. They soon changed its name to The Rolling Stone, stimulating Austin through the next twelve months.
A crucial change in Porter's life began in December, 1894, when...
(This entire section contains 2016 words.)
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bank examiner F. B. Gray uncovered shortages in the accounts and charged him with embezzlement of bank funds. Porter left the bank to spend more time withThe Rolling Stone, but it folded in April. In July, a grand jury refused to indict Porter, but Gray persisted.
In October, 1895, Porter accepted a new job writing for the Houston Post. In February, 1896, Gray succeeded in getting four indictments against him. Porter wrote his last Houston Post column on June 22. On July 6, he boarded a train heading up to Austin for his trial; after fifty miles he apparently got off and, hours later, boarded an eastbound train to seek anonymity in New Orleans, Louisiana. With his excellent command of Spanish, he decided that he could build a new life in Honduras, which had no extradition treaty with the United States, and that he could then send for his wife and daughter to join him there until the statute of limitations expired. Honduras was at that time a stereotypical banana republic but politically more stable than most of its neighbors. Once there, he mixed with the swindlers, bank presidents, confidence men, and other brigands who would later populate some of his stories. The pueblo of Trujillo, Honduras, later became Coralio, Anchuria, in his Cabbages and Kings (1904).
The flaw in Porter's Honduras plan was that Athol's tuberculosis was too serious to let her leave her mother's care. In January, 1897, he returned to Austin. He posted a new court bond and spent the next several months caring for his wife until, on July 25, she died. Porter stayed in Austin writing freelance articles and stories. He finally went to trial on February 15, 1898. The evidence seems to imply that Porter was innocent but unwilling to implicate others. However, the jury convicted him on three counts, and he was sentenced to the lightest possible term, five years in the Ohio State Penitentiary.
When he became prisoner 30664 on April 25, 1898, he showed the strains of the past two years, during which he had lost his young wife, his home, his job, and his good name. The good news, though, was that he was allowed to work in the night shift of the prison pharmacy, leaving him plenty of time to write stories. It was there that he was to really begin the writing career that brought his fame. The twist, however, was that the more famous he became, the more he feared that people would discover his imprisonment. He submitted his stories through friends in New Orleans and elsewhere.
A model prisoner, he was released from prison on July 24, 1901, and went to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to stay with Athol's parents and his twelve-year-old daughter. He wrote some stories and newspaper features, but it was soon clear that he hated Pittsburgh. In April, 1902, he moved to New York City, which he was to call "Baghdad by the Subway." In New York, Porter's frequent drinking companion Bill Williams said he "drank as the Southern gentleman he was and carried his liquor as a gentleman does. I . . . never once saw him or heard of his being intoxicated." While Porter might not have gotten roaring drunk, he nonetheless drank whiskey steadily throughout his short life. In 1909 he began to fade from cirrhosis of the liver. He spent six months back in North Carolina in hopes that the healthier environment might help to cure his illness but eventually moved back to New York City.
Porter collapsed on June 2, 1910, and friends took him to the Polyclinic Hospital. As an attending nurse dimmed the light on the evening of June 4, Porter said, "Turn up the lights. I don't want to go home in the dark." Porter died the following day soon after sunrise.
It was apparently in the Travis County Jail as Porter awaited transportation to Ohio that his middle name migrated from the "Sidney" of his birth and of his father to the "Sydney" of his later years. An April, 1898, letter addressed him as "Mr. Sydney Porter," and prison records also used "Sydney." On the other hand, many theories purport to explain how he settled on his plebeian nom de plume. The first story published by "O. Henry" was also the first one he wrote in prison: "Whistling Dick's Christmas Stocking," which drew on his experiences in New Orleans and appeared in McClure's Magazine in December, 1899. In the December, 1901, Ainslee's Magazine, he used "Olivier Henry."
While Porter was awaiting trial after his wife's death, McClure's Syndicate bought "The Miracle of Lava Canyon" and published it months later under the name of W. S. Porter. A revision of that story later appeared as "An Afternoon Miracle." In all, Porter used twelve different names for his writing, and it was several years before he settled on using only O. Henry. Some say the name was abbreviated from the name of a French pharmacist, Etienne Ossian Henry. Porter told one writer that he picked "Henry" from a list of notables in the New Orleans society pages, then a friend suggested using a single initial, and he decided that "O is about the easiest written." An Ohio Board of Clemency chairman noted that the prison had employed a Captain Orrin Henry who had retired eleven years before Porter's incarceration but whose signature Porter could well have seen.
Porter's reason for using the pen name is clearer than its precise origin: He was embarrassed about his prison record and did his best to keep it a secret from friends and public alike.
Even after his death, the ending of Porter's life story took a characteristically ironic twist. Somehow, the Little Church Around the Corner had scheduled a wedding for 11:00 A.M. on June 7—the same time as Porter's funeral. The bridegroom's brother, trying to hide this omen from the bride, told the wedding party that another wedding was under way, so they spent the next hour in a nearby hotel while William S. Porter and O. Henry were eulogized in the church.
In the decade after his death, Americans bought nearly five million copies of his books, second only to Rudyard Kipling. They were translated into French, Spanish, German, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Russian, and Japanese. Ironically, this man's stories of the Western and urban life of America became even more popular in the new Soviet Union than in his own country. While American writers were using the Russian Anton Chekhov as their model, Russian writers were putting out O. Henry twist endings. In 1962, a Soviet postage stamp commemorated the one hundredth anniversary of Porter's birth, although his own country had never so honored him. His Christmas story "The Gift of the Magi" eventually became universally known to American schoolchildren, and one of his characters, the Cisco Kid, became a mainstay first to many radio listeners and then to a new generation of television viewers.
Current-Garcia, Eugene. O. Henry (William Sydney Porter). Boston: Twayne, 1965. Summarizes O. Henry's life in one chapter, then focuses on the literary influences of his southern upbringing, Texas development, prison experiences, and New York life. Includes chronological summary, endnotes, extensive bibliography, and index.
Langford, Gerald. Alias O. Henry: A Biography of William Sidney Porter. New York: Macmillan, 1957. Covers O. Henry's entire life, with emphasis on his two marriages, his time in Houston, and the evidence in his embezzlement trial. Includes photographs, endnotes, index, and an extensive appendix about The Rolling Stone.
Nolan, Jeannette Cowert. O. Henry: The Story of William Sydney Porter. New York: Julian Messner, 1943. Written as a juvenile novel with fictional dialogue. Includes line drawings, list of articles in periodicals, and index.
O'Connor, Richard. O. Henry: The Legendary Life of William S. Porter. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1970. Covers O. Henry's entire life. Includes photographs and index.
Porter, Jenny Lind, and Trueman E. O'Quinn. Time to Write: How William Sidney Porter Became O. Henry. Austin, Tex.: Eakin Press, 1986. Emphasizes the life of O. Henry in Texas. Includes index and twelve short stories written while he was in federal prison in Columbus, Ohio, each with notes.
Watson, Bruce. "If His Life Were a Short Story, Who'd Ever Believe It?" Smithsonian 27 (January, 1997): 92-102. Biography strewn with anecdotes and some literary criticism. Includes photographs.
Williams, William Washington. The Quiet Lodger of Irving Place. New York: Dutton, 1936. Firsthand account of Porter's life in New York written by a longtime friend and newspaper reporter with emphasis on the people and locations that inspired many O. Henry stories.


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Hair of gold – now a possibility as nanoparticle use could lead to permanent hair dyes
A study conducted French scientist, Dr Philippe Walter and his team, published in ACS Nano Letters, found that hair could synthesize gold nanoparticles into the hair cuticle.
It is understood that 40,000-60,000 gold nanoparticles could fit across the width of a human hair.
The original aim of the study was to look at the structure of keratin within hair, and how keratin breaks down, with gold nanoparticles used as a tracking substance within the subject.
Startling discovery
The team soaked white hairs in a solution of a gold compound, and the hairs turned pale yellow and then darkened to a deep brown.
Using an electron microscope, the scientists confirmed that the particles were forming inside the hairs' central core cortex, and that colour remained even after repeated washings.
Walter noted that after the hair was exposed to the gold, it was synthesized into the hair, which is a normal process for a hair dye. However, in this instance the gold nanoparticles remained, suggesting there could be implications for permanent hair colouring products.
The stumbling blocks at this stage would be that the dye changed colour once in the hair, and a lot of testing would have to be done to ensure product safety.
However, this first synthesis of nanoparticles into human hair could open the door to further development in hair care and other applications.
Let's get into detail…
The synthesis and detailed characterization of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) inside human hair was achieved by treatment of hair with HAuCl4 in alkaline medium.
The AuNPs, which show a strong red fluorescence under blue light, are generated inside the fibre and are arranged in the cortex in a remarkably regular pattern of whorls based on concentric circles, like a fingerprint.
It opens an area of genuine nanocomposites with novel properties due to AuNPs inside the hair shaft.

subset: commoncrawl


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Buffalo, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Shea Weber and Craig Smith each had one goal and one assist to lead the Nashville Predators to a 4-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday.
Nick Spaling also added a goal and an assist, Paul Gaustad potted an empty- netter and Colin Wilson finished with a pair of helpers for the Predators, who have won two straight on the heels of a four-game skid. Carter Hutton made 24 saves in the win.
"It's a good start to the road trip so far," Weber said. "We've got a challenge in Chicago coming up. They're a very good team and we've got to make sure we keep pushing forward and trying to get on a roll here."
Drew Stafford scored the lone goal for the Sabres, losers in four of their last five. Jhonas Enroth allowed three goals on 23 shots in the setback.
"We're not going to have anyone come in here and save us from this. We've got to pick ourselves up. We have what we have and we've got to work through it and we've got to get better," said Sabres coach Ted Nolan.
Stafford opened up the scoring with his power-play marker just 2:09 into the game. Cody Hodgson fired a shot from the left side that bounced off Hutton's pad, but Stafford was there to stuff home the rebound.
The Predators then scored four unanswered goals and Hutton held strong until the final horn.
Spaling's power-play goal knotted things up with less than three minutes left in the first. Weber fired a shot from the right wing into traffic and Spaling was there to redirect it past Enroth to make it 1-1.
Weber scored the eventual game-winner 3:33 into the middle session. With a 3- on-1 rush, Wilson dropped a pass back to Weber, who beat Enroth high for a 2-1 lead.
Smith scored just over four minutes later for a two-goal advantage. Wilson controlled a loose puck behind the net and passed it to Smith on the point, who hammered home a slapshot, his 20th goal of the season.
Gaustad's empty-netter with 1:31 left accounted for the final difference.
Game Notes
Weber has 16 goals and 42 points this season ... Smith has 40 points this season ... The Predators were 3-for-4 on penalty kills and converted on their lone power-play opportunity ... Nashville plays five of its next six games on the road ... The Sabres visit Carolina on Thursday.


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Anchorage Economic Development Corp. (AEDC) received a Gold Excellence in Economic Development Award for its 2012 Hackathon in the category of Special Events for communities with populations of 200,000 – 500,000 from the International Economic Development Council (IEDC).
The honor was presented at an awards ceremony on Tuesday, October 8, during the IEDC Annual Conference, which was held October 6-9, in Philadelphia, Penn.
"The Excellence in Economic Development Awards recognize Anchorage Economic Development Corporation as being one of the leading organizations in the industry for innovation, creativity and successful strategies," said IEDC chair, Paul Krutko. "These awards are meant to honor the organizations and individuals who are dedicated to making a positive change in their communities. This organization uses creative solutions and inventive ideas, and offers other regions a wonderful example to learn and benefit from. The award represents an acknowledgment and appreciation for AEDC's dedication to continuous growth within itself, as well as improving the industry overall."
Anchorage Economic Development Corp. was created in 1987 to grow and diversify the Anchorage economy. In 2015 AEDC will be hosting the IEDC Annual Conference in Anchorage. The Hackathon was a weekend-long event that brought together coders from disciplines across the technology sector in Anchorage. The Hackathon went for a straight 48 hours and was organized as a friendly competition among coders to develop apps, databases and web-based services. The goal was to bring programmers from across Anchorage together to create applications from government data and create solutions to improve the community. We also wanted to help build the technology community in Anchorage as this is an industry we would like to grow.
The event was smashing success with four ideas presented to judges at the end of the weekend that ranged from a public transportation app to a database of employment data. A group that met at this Hackathon went on to continue coding collaboratively to develop the "Adopt-A-Hydrant" web app for Anchorage. The app went on to win an award from Code for America. Since the inaugural Hackathon, AEDC has hosted two more successful Hackathons that have brought together more than 40 programmers that have developed more than a dozen apps.
IEDC's Excellence in Economic Development Awards recognize the world's best economic development programs and partnerships, marketing materials, and the year's most influential leaders. These awards honor organizations and individuals for their efforts in creating positive change in urban, suburban, and rural communities.
About the International Economic Development Council
The International Economic Development Council (IEDC) is a non-profit membership organization serving economic developers. With more than 4,000 members, IEDC is the largest organization of its kind. Economic developers promote economic well-being and quality of life for their communities, by creating, retaining and expanding jobs that facilitate growth, enhance wealth and provide a stable tax base. From public to private, rural to urban, and local to international, IEDC's members are engaged in the full range of economic development experience. Given the breadth of economic development work, our members are employed in a wide variety of settings including local, state, provincial and federal governments, public private partnerships, chambers of commerce, universities and a variety of other institutions. When we succeed, our members create high-quality jobs, develop vibrant communities, and improve the quality of life in their regions. www.iedconline.org
About Anchorage Economic Development Corp. (AEDC)
AEDC is a private, nonprofit membership organization developed in 1987 to encourage growth and to diversify the Anchorage economy. The organization has more than 235 investors, which represent all industries in Anchorage and Alaska. For more information visit www.AEDCweb.com.
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If your store provides overnight loaner cars, include this in your messaging. It's the #1 concierge item requested by women.
Ask, track, and always respond to reviews.
Women want to read others' experiences to help verify what dealerships to visit. Showcase these valuable testimonials on your home page or their own navigation section to build trust and credibility – don't hide them in 'About Us.'
Step back and ask, who does your advertising really speak to?
Enhance your advertising by investing part of your ad dollars into what's in it for her. Include dealer reviews and 'Dealer of the Year' awards. Remember to also sell your dealership, not only cars.
Offer a 3-minute tour, share about extended service center hours, mention that you offer overnight loaner cars, and give a free car wash coupon. Always look to surprise and delight.
Provide informative, helpful content in your BDC email response as well as link to reviews highlighting authentic consumer experiences.
As the first point of engagement for customers, be sure your website represents your brand well, conveys trust, is welcoming, and contains educational content that adds value.
Include images of women throughout your digital assets and online marketing campaigns.
The #1 reason women choose to buy is TRUST which requires implementing new behaviors, attitudes, processes, and messaging.
Always greet your customer through active listening, use empathy and understanding, and taking an interest in what they need or want – even if it's outside the car purchase.
It helps build trust and ensures guests get value from your brand.
Dealers with outdated behaviors and attitudes are losing traction with women in this competitive industry.
You can't grow what you don't know.
Ask questions, listen, and get to know the customer. Never interrupt and don't assume. Consider there won't be a second visit.
What is your Trust Dashboard with this market?
How is your current and future customer demographic represented in your front line team?
Our platform collects unprecedented pre- and post-purchase analytics about what your #1 buyers want and prefer from participating dealers.
92% of reviewers choose to opt into a 25-question survey summarizing their visit. This unbiased data is available in predictive analytics WSI (R) Dealer Data reports chronicling what these buyers want and experience.
What women want at the dealership has predominantly been an absent dialog; those statistics and conversations have generally been national. Dealers now have access to their own proprietary data through our platform. This provides leaders at each business the ability to have honest insights allowing for predictive awareness of behaviors, preferences, and experiences.


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Epigenetic changes affect gene expression, but do not alter DNA
Epigenetic breakthrough bolsters understanding of Alzheimer's disease
A team led by researchers at the University of Exeter Medical School and King's College London has uncovered some of the strongest evidence yet that epigenetic changes in the brain play a role in Alzheimer's disease.
Epigenetic changes affect the expression or activity of genes without changing the underlying DNA sequence and are believed to be one mechanism by which the environment can interact with the genome. Importantly, epigenetic changes are potentially reversible and may therefore provide targets for the development of new therapies.
Globally, more than 26 million people are currently affected by Alzheimer's Disease. As this number grows in line with an increasingly aging population, the need to identify new disease mechanisms is more important than ever. Post-mortem examinations have revealed much about how Alzheimer's damages the brain, with some regions, such as the entorhinal cortex, being particularly susceptible, while others, such as the cerebellum, remain virtually unscathed. However, little is yet known about how and why the disease develops in specific brain regions.
The current study found that chemical modifications to DNA within the ANK1 gene are strongly associated with measures of neuropathology in the brain. The study, published in Nature Neuroscience, found that people with more Alzheimer's disease-related neuropathology in their brains had higher levels of DNA modifications within the ANK1 gene. The finding was particularly strong in the entorhinal cortex, and also detected in other cortical regions affected by the disease. In contrast, no significant changes were observed in less affected brain regions or blood.
Professor Jonathan Mill, of the University of Exeter Medical School and King's College London, who headed the study, said: "This is the strongest evidence yet to suggest that epigenetic changes in the brain occur in Alzheimer's disease, and offers potential hope for understanding the mechanisms involved in the onset of dementia. We don't yet know why these changes occur – it's possible that they are involved in disease onset, but they may also reflect changes induced by the disease itself."
Dr Katie Lunnon, first author on the study, from the University of Exeter Medical School, added: "It's intriguing that we find changes specifically in the regions of the brain involved in Alzheimer's disease. Future studies will focus on isolating different cell-types from the brain to see whether these changes are neuron-specific."
In addition to the University of Exeter Medical School and King's College London, the team included contributors from The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the JJ Peters VA Medical Center, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, the University of Oxford, and Rush University Medical Center, Chicago. They used cutting-edge technology to examine brain tissue from different areas of the brain across three cohorts - the MRC London Brain Bank for Neurodegenerative Disease, the Oxford Thomas Willis Brain Bank, and the Mount Sinai Alzheimer's Disease and Schizophrenia Brain Bank. They analysed three cortical regions, cerebellum, and blood obtained from several hundred individuals representing the spectrum of disease; from those with no evidence of dementia and neurodegeneration, through to patients with very advanced disease.
The research was primarily funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as part of its Epigenomics Roadmap Initiative (grant number R01-AG036039 awarded to Jonathan Mill). To learn more about the NIH initiative that seeks to accelerate research into the relatively new and fast-developing area of epigenetics, go to: https://commonfund.nih.gov/epigenomics/index.
Dr Simon Ridley, Head of Research at Alzheimer's Research UK, the UK's leading dementia research charity, who also provided funding for the study said:"We know that changes to the DNA code of certain genes are associated with an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Investigating how epigenetic changes influence genes in Alzheimer's is still a relatively new area of study. The importance of understanding this area of research is highlighted by the fact that epigenetic changes have been associated with development of other diseases, including cancer.
"This innovative research has discovered a potential new mechanism involved in Alzheimer's by linking the ANK1 gene to the disease. We will be interested to see further research into the role of ANK1 in Alzheimer's and whether other epigenetic changes may be involved in the disease.
"Alzheimer's affects millions of people worldwide and we need pioneering research to understand exactly why the disease occurs. Alzheimer's Research UK is helping to fund research which will take us a step closer to understanding and defeating this devastating disease."
DNA image via Shutterstock.
Date: 17 August 2014


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New research on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in soldiers challenges popular assumptions about the origins and trajectory of PTSD, providing evidence that traumatic experiences in childhood – not combat – may predict which soldiers develop the disorder.
Psychological scientist Dorthe Berntsen of Aarhus University in Denmark and a team of Danish and American researchers wanted to understand why some soldiers develop PTSD but others don't. They also wanted to develop a clearer understanding of how the symptoms of the disorder progress.
"Most studies on PTSD in soldiers following service in war zones do not include measures of PTSD symptoms prior to deployment and thus suffer from a baseline problem. Only a few studies have examined pre- to post-deployment changes in PTSD symptoms, and most only use a single before-and-after measure," says Berntsen.
The team aimed to address these methodological issues by studying a group of 746 Danish soldiers and evaluating their symptoms of PTSD at five different timepoints. Their study is published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
Five weeks before the soldiers were scheduled to leave for Afghanistan, they completed a battery of tests including a PTSD inventory and a test for depression. They also completed a questionnaire about traumatic life events, including childhood experiences of family violence, physical punishment, and spousal abuse.
During their deployment, the soldiers completed measures related to the direct experience of war: perceptions of war zone stress, actual life-threatening war experiences, battlefield wounds, and the experience of actually killing an enemy.
The researchers continued to follow the soldiers after their return home to Denmark, assessing them a couple weeks after their return, two to four months after their return, and seven to eight months after their return.
What Berntsen and her colleagues found challenges several widely held assumptions about the nature of PTSD.
Rather than following some sort of "typical" pattern in which symptoms emerge soon after a particularly traumatic event and persist over time, Berntsen and colleagues found wide variation in the development of PTSD among the soldiers.
The vast majority of the soldiers (84%) were resilient, showing no PTSD symptoms at all or recovering quickly from mild symptoms.
The rest of the soldiers showed distinct and unexpected patterns of symptoms. About 4% showed evidence of "new-onset" trajectory, with symptoms starting low and showing a marked increase across the five timepoints. Their symptoms did not appear to follow any specific traumatic event.
Most notably, about 13% of the soldiers in the study actually showed temporary improvement in symptoms during deployment. These soldiers reported significant symptoms of stress prior to leaving for Afghanistan that seemed to ease in the first months of deployment only to increase again upon their return home.
What could account for this unexpected pattern of symptoms?
Compared to the resilient soldiers, the soldiers who developed PTSD were much more likely to have suffered emotional problems and traumatic events prior to deployment. Childhood experiences of violence, especially punishment severe enough to cause bruises, cuts, burns, and broken bones actually predicted the onset of PTSD in these soldiers. Those who showed symptoms of PTSD were more likely to have witnessed family violence, and to have experienced physical attacks, stalking or death threats by a spouse. They were also more likely to have past experiences that they could not, or would not, talk about. And they were less educated than the resilient soldiers.
According to Berntsen and colleages, all of these factors together suggest that army life – despite the fact that it involved combat – offered more in the way of social support and life satisfaction than these particular soldiers had at home. The mental health benefits of being valued and experiencing camaraderie thus diminished when the soldiers had to return to civilian life.
The findings challenge the notion that exposure to combat and other war atrocities is the main cause of PTSD.
"We were surprised that stressful experiences during childhood seemed to play such a central role in discriminating the resilient versus non-resilient groups," says Berntsen. "These results should make psychologists question prevailing assumptions about PTSD and its development."


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This afternoon Microsoft announced Brainwave, an FPGA-based system for ultra-low latency deep learning in the cloud. Early benchmarking indicates that when using Intel Stratix 10 FPGAs, Brainwave can sustain 39.5 Teraflops on a large gated recurrent unit without any batching.
Microsoft has been pouring resources into FPGAs for a while now, deploying large clusters of the field-programmable gate arrays into its data centers. Algorithms are written into FPGAs, making them quite efficient and easily reprogrammable. This specialization makes them ideal for machine learning, specifically parallel computing.
Building on this work, Microsoft has synthesized DPU or DNN processing units into its FPGAs. The hope is that by focusing on deep neural nets, Microsoft can adapt its infrastructure faster to keep up with research and offer near real-time processing.
For as retro of a technology as FPGAs are, the nifty chips have been having something of a renaissance in recent years. Mipsology, an FPGA-obsessed startup, has been working closely with Amazon to make the technology accessible over Amazon Web Services and other platforms.
If the last few decades were about creating generalized CPUs to handle a broad array of processes, the last few months have been about building custom chips that excel at specific tasks. A solid chunk of these efforts have gone toward dedicated chips for machine learning.
The most notable effort by far has been Google's Tensor Processing Unit. The chips are optimized around TensorFlow, and early benchmarking completed has been very promising. That said, most major tech companies have side projects around the future of computing — quantum chips, FPGAs, etc. And when there's interest from tech giants, startups are willing to make a game of it — Rigetti, Mythic and Wave to name a few.
No word on when Brainwave will be available for Microsoft Azure customers. As of now the system works with Google's popular TensorFlow and Microsoft's own CNTK. The company is setting ambitious expectations for deep learning performance using the technology, so there will undoubtedly be plenty more benchmarking news in the coming months.


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For additional information regarding requirements for current and previous catalog programs, please refer to the Undergraduate Course Catalogs.
Please do not submit application until ALL requirements have been met.
All students seeking to complete a degree which leads to teacher certification must be formally admitted to the Teacher Education Program in the College of Education, Sport, and Human Sciences. Formal admission occurs when students have 45 hours and have met all other requirements.
Students can apply for admission once they have:
When the above requirements are met,students should submit information to the online Teacher Education Program Application System on the SAS site that includes:
Once an application is submitted,students must receive approval from the following:
Students wishing to apply for admission to Teacher Education may do so (online only) by visiting: Teacher Education Program Application.
* A Teacher Education program fee of $250 will be billed to the candidate upon acceptance. You will be invited to a formal Induction Ceremony once you are fully admitted to the Teacher Education program. The Induction Ceremony is held once a year, during the fall semester.


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What has become our mantra in this post-George Zimmerman are U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder's words to the NAACP last week; "We must stand our ground" against injustice.
Holder drew cheers, "Amens," and a standing ovation when he spoke those words. The next day, however, Martin Luther King III spoke to the NAACP, and while he did suggest we stand our ground, he went a bit further and reminded me of his father's speech in Memphis the night before he was killed. King III, after reflecting on our trillion dollar "spending power," slipped in a little suggestion that maybe we should no longer buy Florida Orange Juice. Hmmm.
In light of the Zimmerman not guilty verdict, pressure is on the state of Florida to reverse its "Stand Your Ground" law. I suppose that also means we should do the same in the other 20 or so states that have similar laws on their books. The battle lines have been drawn between liberals and conservatives, and the political talking heads have been wound up to fire the first volleys at one another.
More than a million folks have signed the NAACP's online petition, and many have taken to the streets to protest the verdict and the stand your ground law. But is there anything we can do to make a real change in the way we are treated in the court system? Of course, as an optimist, I say the answer is a definite "yes," but do we know what that is, and are we willing to do it?
In his famous "Mountaintop" speech, MLK said, "Always anchor our external direct action with the power of economic withdrawal… Never stop and forget that collectively, that means all of us together, collectively we are richer than all the nations in the world, with the exception of nine. That's power right there, if we know how to pool it.
"We don't have to argue with anybody. We don't have to curse and go around acting bad with our words. We don't need any bricks and bottles, we don't need any Molotov cocktails, we just need to go around to these stores, and to these massive industries in our country, and say, 'God sent us by here, to say to you that you're not treating his children right. And we've come by here to ask you to make the first item on your agenda fair treatment…Now, if you are not prepared to do that, we do have an agenda that we must follow. And our agenda calls for withdrawing economic support from you.'
"And so, as a result of this, we are asking you tonight, to go out and tell your neighbors not to buy Coca-Cola in Memphis. Go by and tell them not to buy Sealtest milk. Tell them not to buy…Wonder Bread."
"But not only that, we've got to strengthen Black institutions. I call upon you to take your money out of the banks downtown and deposit your money in Tri-State Bank—we want a 'bank-in' movement in Memphis… I'm not asking you something we don't do ourselves…we have an account here in the savings and loan association from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. We're just telling you to follow what we're doing. Put your money there. You have six or seven Black insurance companies in Memphis. Take out your insurance there. We want to have an 'insurance-in.'"
"Now these are some practical things we can do. We begin the process of building a greater economic base. And at the same time, we are putting pressure where it really hurts. I ask you to follow through here."
So, upon what ground are we standing as we look forward to our next March on Washington in August 2013? Are we standing only on emotional ground, or are we standing on the firm ground of the economic base to which MLK referred in his speech?
Trayvon is gone, and his parents are dealing with their pain and agony by demonstrating the same kind of dignity and discipline Coretta Scott King showed after MLK's assassination. Our charge must be to use our collective clout to bring about peaceful change – as MLK said, "We don't have to argue and curse at anyone." Just use our collective economic power with the same resolve as Trayvon's parents.
What can we do? Let's work to get Marissa Alexander out of that Florida prison. March on that in Washington. Sign petitions, write letters, and send emails to Florida Gov. Rick Scott demanding he grant her clemency or whatever he has to do to set her free. This young sister got 20 years for standing her ground against an abusive Black man; she had no place to retreat and fired a warning shot into the ceiling that saved her life. Yes, another travesty of justice in Florida, but one we can act upon to give Marissa Alexander the justice she deserves. If we stand on the right ground in this case, as both MLK's suggested, at least we can save a life rather than just mourn another one.
Jim Clingman, founder of the Greater Cincinnati African American Chamber of Commerce, is the nation's most prolific writer on economic empowerment for Black people. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati and can be reached through his Web site, blackonomics.com.


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Astrological traditions, not merely in India but also in the globe's other parts, link these nine jewels with nine planets, namely, ruby with Sun, diamond with Venus, pearl with Moon, coral with Mars, hessonite with Rahu, blue sapphire with Saturn, cat's eye with Ketu, yellow sapphire with Jupiter and emerald with Mercury. It is widely believed that these stones : the microcosms of these planets, transmit the planets' positive energy into the wearer and at the same time appease the notorious ones, Rahu and Ketu, and others, Saturn in particular, in their unfavourable phases, and thus mitigate their adverse influences. Astrological tradition perceives all planets to have recurrently the negative and positive phases, and these stones have a role during both. With 'cause-and effect' basis being lost the astrology has reduced to a body of believes, though most widely shared. Now enthused researchers world-over belonging to different disciplines are seeking to co-relate a particular stone's ingredients, properties and elements with the planet that it represents and scientifically establish the truth of such astrological beliefs.
The deep red ruby, a term developed out of the Latin term 'ruber', meaning red, is contended to be the Sun's stone and enjoys accordingly the supreme position among all stones. While other stones form part of an image's ornamentation, ruby usually used for defining the 'tilaka' – the auspicious mark on the forehead, integrates as image's body-part. Capable of developing ability to command, rule and lead ruby was kings', and is now leaders', favourite stone. Ruby also develops will-power, vigour, self-image and public perception, purity, virtue and independence. Diamond, the most expensive, hardest and largely colourless mineral known for its rare brilliance that it acquires by high dispersion of light, is the most sought for stone by both, jewelers and astrologers. Linked to Venus, the goddess of beauty, art, music, literature and creativity, diamond effects harmony in all walks of life. It brings luxuries, prosperity, success, abundant happiness, name, fame, wealth and artistic talent. Not a rare stone but a rare find obtained from oceanic depths a pearl is a hard, lustrous spherical mass, whitish or bluish-grey but in any case endowed with a touch of softness. A pearl is another most favoured jewel of kings and elite. Composed of calcium carbonate within the shell of an oyster or other bivalve mollusk a pearl is unique in restoring peace of mind and getting rid of turbulences of the mind and life. Like pearl coral is also a product of the sea. It is the fossil of a sea-creature known as coral and heat and light play decisive role in its formation. Its colour varies from orange to brick-red. In astrology coral is venerated as the physician of mankind as it protects against epidemics, strengthens blood and reproductive system and improves energies. By the change of its colour a coral piece not only indicates the imminence of an illness but also cautions against the presence of poison around its wearer/bearer. Coral quietens emotions, gives courage and improves work-capacity. Hessonite and cat's eye, known in Indian astrological tradition as Gomaid and Lahasunia respectively, are considered as semi-precious stones, though with their ability to mitigate the adverse influences of the fiercest planets, Rahu and Ketu, these stones are highly venerated for their exceptional astrological influences and mystic power. Hessonite is a highly glossy stone even in its natural form. It is found in two hues, orange-red and deep colour of honey, as one used in this pendent and is considered more effective. It protects against the ill-effects of Rahu and develops a sense of clarity and brings popularity. Cat's eye is stone that has within its body fibrous inclusion or cavities, or narrow bands of colours, usually white, sky-blue, green and black. It is a stone that is only polished but not faceted. It is unique in relieving from uncertainties, and gives concentration and confidence and develops ability of decision-taking.
Yellow sapphire, blue-sapphire and emerald are stones of the same family. Yellow sapphire is an expensive and rare stone. It is found in three colours, yellow, orange and gold, of which yellow is the purest and most effective. Representing Jupiter, the planet of wisdom, yellow sapphire develops knowledge of law, as also religious leanings, ethical character, wit, wisdom and also happiness and good health. The beautiful deep blue transparent blue sapphire has power to prevent diseases such as paralysis, teeth-problems, asthma and bones' related ailments. The deep green emerald helps mental alertness, prevent memory deterioration, and develops communication skill and mental control.
This description by Prof. P.C. Jain and Dr. Daljeet. Prof. Jain specializes on the aesthetics of literature and is the author of numerous books on Indian art and culture. Dr. Daljeet is the curator of the Miniature Painting Gallery, National Museum, New Delhi. They have both collaborated together on a number of books.
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Generation Excess III
The Center for Science in the Public Interest and leading European consumer organizations convened policy makers, nutrition experts, and public health officials from the United States and Europe for "Generation Excess III," a conferences on public policy approaches to childhood obesity and related diet and health problems on April 8 in Washington, D.C. The conference was organized under the auspices of the Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue, an advisory group of consumer organizations established by the European Commission and the U.S. Department of State and follows two previous conferences held in Europe.
See below for a selection of presentations from Generation Excess III in PowerPoint and Adobe PDF formats.
Presentations from Generation Excess III Conference
Washington D.C., April 8, 2008
Keynote Address: Changing the Food Environment: Progress to Date and Next Steps
(Acrobat 14.7MB, Powerpoint 27.6MB)
Marion Nestle, Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, NYU
King County, WA Nutrition Disclosure Regulations for Chain Restaurants
(Acrobat 2.5MB, Powerpoint 10MB)
Dennis Worsham- Project Manager, Regional Health Director, Public Health, Seattle and King County
Nutrition and Physical Activity: Towards a Healthier Lifestyle
(Acrobat 456k, Powerpoint 6MB)
Robert Madelin, Director General for Health and Consumer Protection, European Commission
Changing the Food Environment: The French Experience
(Acrobat 64k, Powerpoint 120k)
Dr. Michel Chauliac, Coordinator of the National Nutritional and Health Program
Ministry of Health, Youth and Sports
French Government Approach on Improvement of the Nutritional Quality of Processed Food
(Acrobat 44k, Powerpoint 84k)
Dr Michel Chauliac, Coordinator of the National Nutritional and Health Program
Ministry of Health, Youth and Sports
Update on the European Commission's New Proposal for Mandatory Nutrition Labelling
(Acrobat 120k, Powerpoint 168k)
Helen Lee, European Commission
The Changing Food Environment: The Role and Activities of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(Powerpoint 2000k)
Janice Oliver, Deputy Director, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration
Restricting Food Marking to Children in Europe
(Acrobat 588k, Powerpoint 684k)
Tim Lobstein, International Obesity Task Force, International Association for the Study of Obesity
Promoting Healthy Food and Activity Environments — A View from California
(Powerpoint 16.2MB)
Leslie Mikkelsen, Managing Director, Strategic Alliance
UK Experience in Reducing Salt, Fat and Sugar in Processed Foods
(Acrobat 556k, Powerpoint 8.4MB)
Rosemary Hignett, Head of Nutrition, UK Food Standards Agency
Nutrition Labelling: Use of Traffic Light Signals vs Guideline Daily Amounts: What Does the Research Show?
(Acrobat 396k, Powerpoint 1100k)
Rosemary Hignett, Head of Nutrition, UK Food Standards Agency
Calorie Labeling in New York City Restaurants: An Approach to Inform Consumers
(Acrobat 784k, Powerpoint 2.9MB)
Sonia Angell, MD MPH, Director, CVD Prevention and Control
The New York City Trans Fat Regulation: Preventing Heart Disease by Changing the Food Environment
(Acrobat 1400k, Powerpoint 4.4MB)
Sonia Angell, MD MPH, Director, CVD Prevention and Control, NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene
Update on Nutrition Labeling Reforms in the U.S.
(Acrobat 1000k, Powerpoint 10.1MB)
Camille Brewer, Deputy Director, Office of Nutrition, Labeling and Dietary Supplements, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
The Danish Trans Fat Ban
(Acrobat 164k, Powerpoint 972k)
Paolo M. Drostby, Head of Food Policy Division, Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, Denmark
FDA Efforts to Reduce Trans Fat and Salt in Processed Foods
(Acrobat 1500k, Powerpoint 340KB)
Julie Moss, PhD, RD, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Office of Nutrition, Labeling and Dietary Supplements, Food and Drug Administration
Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: A Cross-Government Strategy for England
(Acrobat 568k, Powerpoint 9.6MB)
Will Cavendish, Director of Health and Well-Being Department of Health, HM Government, UK
For more information from the conference from the Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue, please see http://www.tacd.org/events/meeting9/index.htm


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Creation Date
Oral History | Viticulture and Oenology
Dave and Sara Specter are photographed during an oral history interview at Bells Up Winery in Newberg, Oregon on June 19, 2017. The Specters were interviewed by Linfield College Archives staff Stephanie Hofmann.
Dave Specter, an award-winning winemaker, started Bells Up Winery in 2013 with the help of his wife, Sara. The first Bells Up vintages were released in 2015. Bells Up specializes in Oregon Pinot Noir, with grapes sourced from micro-growers in the northern Willamette Valley.
(left to right): Sara Specter, Dave Specter
Collection Credit
Oregon Wine History Archive. Jereld R. Nicholson Library. Linfield College, McMinnville, Oregon.
Recommended Citation
Linfield College Archives, "Dave and Sara Specter Interview 12" (2017). Browse All Willamette Valley Oral History Interview Photos. Image. Submission 389.


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4.2: Influences on Darwin
- Page ID
- 3017
How old is Earth?
Earth is now believed to be over 4.5 billion years old. But during Darwin's time, most people believed that the Earth was only about 6,000 years old. If Darwin hadn't learned about the work of geologists that suggested that the Earth was much older, he might have never have developed his theory of evolution.
Darwin's Influences
When Darwin returned to England five years later, in 1836, at the end of his voyage, he did not rush to announce his discoveries. Unlike other naturalists before him, Darwin did not want to present any ideas unless he had strong evidence supporting them. Instead, once Darwin returned to England, he spent over twenty years examining specimens, talking with other scientists and collecting more information before he presented his theories.
Some of Darwin's ideas conflicted with widely held beliefs, including those from religious leaders. At that time, many people believed that organisms never change and never go extinct, and that the world was only about 6,000 years old, always existing in the same way, never changing. These beliefs delayed Darwin in presenting his findings.
How did Darwin come up with his theories? Charles Darwin was influenced by the ideas of several people.
- Before the voyage of the Beagle, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck proposed the idea that species change over time. However, Darwin differed with Lamarck on several key points. Lamarck proposed that traits acquired during one's lifetime could be passed to the next generation. Darwin did not agree with this.
- The findings of Charles Lyell, a well-known geologist, also influenced Darwin. Lyell's writings taught Darwin about geology, paleontology, and the changing Earth. Lyell's findings suggested the Earth must be much older than 6,000 years. And the evolution of life, as Darwin was developing his ideas, would definitely take much longer than just 6,000 years. During the Voyage of the Beagle, Darwin observed fossils of sea life high up in the mountains. What must happen to the Earth for this to occur? Darwin, using the readings of Lyell, took this as evidence of a constantly changing Earth.
- After the Voyage of the Beagle, another naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace (Figure below), developed a similar theory of evolution by natural selection. Wallace toured South America and made similar observations to Darwin's. Darwin and Wallace presented their theories and evidence in public together. Due to the large number of observations and conclusions he made, Darwin is mostly credited and associated with this theory.
Imagine developing a theory that conflicted with widely held beliefs of the time, as Darwin did. Imagine pulling together material from all these different people, adding his own findings, and turning it all into his theory. Imagine the torment Darwin must have endured during this time, knowing the skepticism that would follow the release of his findings. But, upon his death, Darwin was given one of the highest honors in England. Darwin is buried in Westminster Abbey, the final resting place of many of England's kings and queens. Why was he buried in such an important spot?
- Darwin's ideas conflicted with widely held beliefs, such as the idea that organisms never change and that the world was only about 6,000 years old.
- Darwin was influenced by other scientists, including Lamarck, Lyell, and Wallace.
Explore More
Use the resource below to answer the questions that follow.
- Nova: Great Minds Think Alike at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/great-minds-think-alike.html.
- Where did Wallace travel? How did he pay for his trip?
- What happened to the collections Wallace collected in South America?
- How does the Malay Archipelago compare to the Galapagos Islands?
- What is the Wallace Line?
- Compare and contrast Darwin's and Lamarck's views of evolution.
- Why did Darwin hesitate to publish his theory?
- Who was Charles Lyell? What significant aspect of Lyell's influenced Darwin?
- Who was Alfred Wallace?


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The white-tailed deer that live in woodlands throughout the United States and in Central America and N South America was a source of food, buckskin, and other necessities for Native Americans and white settlers. Deer flesh, called venison, is still considered a delicacy. Slaughter through the years nearly exterminated the whitetail, but it is now restored in large numbers in the E United States and to a lesser extent in the West. In summer its upper parts are reddish brown, in winter grayish. The mule deer exists in reduced numbers from the Plains region westward, and the closely related black-tailed deer is a Pacific coast form.
Old World deer include the red deer, closely related to the North American wapiti, the fallow deer, and the axis deer. The only deer in Africa are small numbers of red deer found in the north in a forested area. The barking deer, or muntjac, is a small deer of S Asia. A muntjac discovered in N Myanmar (formerly Burma) in 1997 is believed to be the smallest deer in the world. Called the leaf deer,
See also caribou; elk; moose; Père David's deer; reindeer.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Vertebrate Zoology


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Keep the fame – he doesn't want it.
Keep the spotlight – it has zero influence on his preparation and focus.
Keep the questions about personality, sartorial choices, and potential willingness to step into the cage with his friend and training partner too – asked and answered, ad nauseam.
Rory MacDonald is different.
While the sporting landscape is littered with young stars courting the spotlight and craving the attention of fans and media alike, the 24-year-old MacDonald prefers to play the cut, tucked away in the chilly transition between fall and winter in Montreal, content to work on his craft without interruption or an audience.
The kid from Kelowna, British Columbia who was more interested in going to the gym than going out to celebrate his birthday has been called everything from the heir apparent in the welterweight division to "The Canadian Psycho," a moniker bestowed on him due to his sharp sense of style and the steely, emotionless way he approaches interviews and media obligations during fight week, but there is a far more accurate and apt tag to describe MacDonald.
When it comes to fighting in a cage, MacDonald is a savant.
The 15-1 welterweight nicknamed "Ares" pursues his craft like very few in the sport, and that's not to say his colleagues and contemporaries are not committed to their training – MacDonald is just on a different level.
Rising to the top of the sport has been at the forefront of his thoughts since he was a 16-year-old, living on his own while completing high school in order to keep training with David Lea at Toshido Martial Arts. That same commitment to being the best is why he made the difficult choice to make the move to Montreal and leave the only coach he'd known at the time following his UFC 115 loss to Carlos Condit as well.
Finding ways to improve and thinking about the task at hand dominates his thoughts, which is why he comes off as disengaged and dismissive at times in interviews – that, and the focus often seems to be on things MacDonald doesn't want to spend his time talking about, like a fight with Georges St-Pierre or the latest verbal assault fired in his direction by past, present, or potentially future opponents.
In training camp and especially during fight week, there is only one thing the dangerous and still developing Canadian is thinking about.
"The focus is always the fight; that's always the focus," says MacDonald, who will face the challenge of Fight Week this week in Las Vegas in advance of stepping into the cage with resurgent veteran Robbie Lawler Saturday night at UFC 167. "The interviews and the same question over and over again just become tiring. My focus is always the same.
After a pair of outings where he was reluctantly front and center in the storylines heading into the event, the preamble to Saturday's meeting with Lawler has featured far less attention, something the guarded fighter appreciates a great deal.
"It's really nice," he says of the lack of trash talk swirling around this fight with Lawler after 140-character jabs became central to the pre-fight conversations before his victories over BJ Penn and Jake Ellenberger. "I haven't had to deal with any questions from the media about it, so it's been relaxing in that sense.
"I've just been doing my regular thing with no distractions from the media or my opponent. It's been nice. There has been less hassle with having to answer repetitive questions. And it helps fighting on a card with Georges, so a lot of the attention is off of me and on to him."
Part of what sets MacDonald apart is that in a sea of fighters eager to know everyone's opinions – and ready to take umbrage with anyone who says something even half way out of line with their own views – the gifted 24-year-old genuinely isn't impacted by what anyone outside of his inner circle says.
That goes for everyone.
In the wake of his victory over Ellenberger this summer in Seattle, fans and pundits laid into the losing welterweight, but had some choice words about MacDonald's performance as well.
Though the fight didn't go exactly as planned, the Tristar Gym representative was pleased with his effort, and believes a lot of the responsibility for the fight falling short of expectations rests at the feet of his opponent.
"It wasn't hard to listen to," MacDonald says of the critical comments. "It doesn't affect me. I'm just going to be myself, fight how I fight, and I think the fans will appreciate my fights.
"I feel like I've had great fights in all my fights, and a lot of judgment is cast on your last performance in this sport. In that fight, a lot of the blame has to fall on Jake – he was getting picked apart and he knew if he came in, he would get counterpunched and get knocked out. He wasn't willing to make that sacrifice.
"What I was doing was working, and I felt like it was a matter of time before I was going to be able to end the fight because I was putting pressure on Jake to make his move. I was putting him further and further behind on the cards, and he wasn't willing to take the risk necessary to win the fight. I think that falls on him, not me.
"But a lot of people just see two people fighting in a cage, and don't understand the chess pieces moving and the tactical elements that go into winning at this level."
Conversely, that is almost exclusively what MacDonald thinks about, and it is that locked in focus and ability to dismiss everything except what matters more to his continued development and getting one step closer to his ultimate goal that many don't understand, prompting them to label the driven athlete "detached."
The piece they're missing, however, is that this isn't just a job or just another fight for the well-rounded competitor who has 12 finishes in his 15 career wins – it's a passion and a journey, one that has consumed him from a young age, and one that he intends to see through to the end, whenever that may be.
Saturday's contest with Lawler is another chance to test his skills, prove he's superior, and close in on his goal of winning championship gold before his 25th birthday – a benchmark he set for himself prior to his UFC debut, and one he still hopes to reach before he reaches the quarter-century mark this coming summer.
"Robbie's had some good performances in his last few outings, and he's been around for a long time," he says in his patented, economical fashion. "I think Robbie and I match up well for an exciting fight, and I think I will have a dominating performance that everyone will enjoy watching.
"I really think that I'm going to be able to showcase a lot of my skills in this fight. I'm going to have a dominating performance, and I'm in great shape. I couldn't be any happier to have a fight like this right now.
"I'd still like to be champion by the summer, but we'll see how this fight goes," he adds in closing. "I want to stay busy after this fight. I want to be successful in this fight, and I want to achieve that goal of being champion before I'm 25, but we'll see how it all works out.
"At the end of the day, I feel that I'm closer to that title shot every time I fight, and one more or two more good performances put me right there. So we'll see what happens."
When the fight is over, he'll retreat to the slush-filled streets of Montreal, away from the spotlight and the questions about his suits, his personality, and a fight with his teammate that he's answered the same way innumerable times for two years.
He'll head back to the gym, the strength and conditioning sessions, and his dogged pursuit of greatness that seems to perplex so many.
And none of that is going to change.
Rory MacDonald is different, and that's a very good thing for this sport.
Jamahal Hill Talks UFC 300 Main Event
Hall Of Fame


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Hungarian mathematician; born at Nagy-Körös Nov. 3, 1846; educated at Budapest and Vienna, and at the universities of Göttingen and Heidelberg. He was professor of mathematics and theoretic physics at the University of Klausenburg from 1874 to 1886, when he was called to the School of Technology in Budapest. Since 1891 he has lectured there on analytic mechanics.
In 1878 Réthy became a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, which commissioned him to edit Bólyai's "Tentamen" (1897). He has also contributed a number of articles to the technical periodicals.
- Pallas Lex.


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Scripted Nightclub
Connected to: SCP-427
Special Containment Procedures
SCP-453 is to be staffed by no fewer than: four (4) bartenders, six (6) bouncers, four (4) cleaners, one (1) doctor, four (4) EMTs, and two (2) observation personnel, all trained Foundation staff, at all times. Additionally, ten (10) or more Foundation security staff are to be kept on standby in the adjacent outbuilding 453-01, connected to SCP-453 by basement access. All staff are required to familiarise themselves with Document 453-1, Complete List of Known Scripts and memorise all Scripts that have been flagged by the current on-site supervisor (Dr. Moriglioni). Failure to memorise flagged Scripts is grounds for immediate discharge from SCP-453 duty, and will result in a formal demerit on the offending personnel's record.
SCP-453 is to be locked and guarded between the hours of 0400 and 2000, local time; from 2000-0400 it is to be unlocked and open. Anyone entering the club during operating hours will have a radio tracking tag clipped to his or her clothing, and will remain monitored closely by closed-circuit cameras at all times.
During the day, SCP-453 is to be inspected and measured in all dimensions by staff. Any movement of fixed objects in the building are to be recorded and reported to head researcher Dr. Moriglioni. Fire prevention and violence suppression protocols are to be kept in accordance with Standing Order 405-991 section T; should movement of fixed internal structures violate this protocol, renovation crews are to be recruited to the site immediately for restructuring.
SCP-453 is a nightclub located in ██████████████, Italy, currently owned and operated entirely by Foundation personnel. Every night, an apparently random assortment of civilians from ██████████████ and adjoining municipalities arrive at the club; although the night invariably begins identically to any other club, over the course of the night the civilians present fall into "roles" in one of ███ currently documented sequences of events (termed "Scripts" by Foundation operatives working on SCP-453). Over the course of the evening, generally according to Script, civilians will depart the club and return home, maintaining only partial memories of the night. All surviving civilians depart before 0400 every night.
SCP-453 has existed in its current location for as long as Foundation records exist. Archaeological evidence suggests a wealthy Roman senator, known for extravagant nightly parties, had a villa in the location as early as ██ B.C.E.; the Foundation has had possession of the site since 1███. On several occasions the building has been torn down or destroyed; outdoor parties continued to persist nightly at the site. When the site itself is rendered inaccessible, civilian partygoers will gather as near as possible to the site and begin an impromptu street party; this party rapidly devolves into a riot (see Document 453-1, Complete List of Known Scripts, attached).
The club in its current configuration was designed and built entirely according to Foundation specifications. All core construction materials are SCP containment grade, to limit damage due to the more violent Scripts. Dr. Moriglioni has observed that the building has shown some self-mutational ability. Of particular note has been the gradual shift of the location of the secure locker containing suppression weaponry for staff use: it has moved closer and closer to the men's washroom. At this time it remains in the secure staff section. Other sections of the building have slowly moved and changed in similar ways.
A complete log of known Scripts is attached as Document 453-1. The 'selection' of a Script appears to be semi-random, although various stimuli will encourage particular Scripts to occur (for example, Script 117 "The Silver Harlequins" has only been observed when more than 15 club attendees are over the age of 60). Please note that while Script logs detail "pertinent events", all events in the club aside from staff actions become Scripted at around 2100 hrs (varies depending on Script). Participants begin speaking in Latin while engaged in Script, although music, dance styles, alcohol, et cetera remain "modern". Complete logs of all recorded actions, lines, and requests for each Script are available on request from Dr. Moriglioni. In its current configuration, SCP-453 has shown preference for three (3) Scripts in particular; these three account for roughly 80% of the Scripts seen, and represent a good cross-section of the general types of Scripts SCP-453 is capable of. These Scripts follow, listed in order of frequency:
Script 43: "The Cheating Wife" |
Low priority, low fatality; staff medical intervention required at 2307 hrs for 43-male-C, and recommended for 43-males-A and -B. Medical treatment of 43-wife at 2319 hrs is also recommended, but is conditional on consent from 43-wife as she will have left the script at this point.
Pertinent Events:
- At 2149 hrs, a female (43-wife) between the ages of 20 and 25 will withdraw to the men's washroom, followed within 2 minutes by three (3) males between the ages of 20 and 40 (43-male-A, -B, and -C).
- Between 2152 and 2250 hrs, [DATA EXPUNGED].
- At 2255 hrs, a male civilian (43-husband) will enter SCP-453, order a bottle of red wine, and proceed immediately to the washroom. 43-husband will beat 43-male-A and -B to unconsciousness using the bottle; 43-male-C will receive minor brain trauma. Prompt medical attention will allow 43-male-C to recover within one (1) week. 43-husband drags 43-wife out of the washroom and proceeds to [DATA EXPUNGED], screaming epithets about infidelity and marriage in Latin. Other participants of the club pay no attention. 43-husband drags 43-wife out of SCP-453 at 2319 hrs, at which point they leave the Script and 43-wife can be retrieved for medical intervention.
Aftermath: Despite the trauma of the events, 43-wife shows no memory of them the following day. When injuries are pointed out, she reacts with shock. 43-husband remembers the events vaguely, but will not believe they were anything but a nightmare. Reacts violently to interrogating Agent if pressed in this manner. The three 43-males remember getting in a bar fight, but not the cause.
Notes: None of the participants in this Script have any relationship or prior knowledge of each other. If introduced after the events of the Script, participants 43-wife and the 43-males will have an irrational hatred of 43-husband; this applies to anyone who has previously participated in the Script as one of these roles, even on different dates. 43-husband finds himself extremely attracted to 43-wife. Further post-Script introduction of 43-husband and 43-wife has been denied after [DATA EXPUNGED]. It is of some interest to note that despite capably handling the 43-males in combat, the Script appears to preferentially select a 43-husband who is diminutive in stature and in poor physical condition, while the 43-males are typically large and physically fit.
Experiment Log 453-s43:
Deviation: The male washroom is closed and locked after 43-wife enters.
Result: Four new individuals (43-locksmiths) arrive at the washroom almost immediately after it is closed, forcibly opening the doors in order to use the facilities. Events proceed as usual, with a 12-minute delay. These individuals appear to be able to circumvent any lock we have thus far applied to the door, including SCP-███.
Deviation: 43-husband is denied access to a full bottle of alcohol, given a glass instead.
Result: 43-husband takes a bar stool into the washroom. Participants 43-wife and 43-male-A and -C are killed instead of injured. Participant 43-male-B suffers irrecoverable spinal injuries1.
Deviation: Four (4) Foundation personnel enter the men's washroom and attempt to subdue 43-husband using suppressive weaponry.
Result: See video log 453-43-039. Foundation personnel subdued by 43-husband, who reacts immediately to the arrival of the Foundation personnel before any attack is made, disarming them and destroying their weaponry after suppressing them with it. Foundation personnel ignored from this point onward; Script proceeds as usual with a 3-minute delay.
Note: Direct intervention in Scripted events should be handled much more carefully in light of [DATA EXPUNGED]. We were very lucky this time. —Dr. Moriglioni.
Script 21: "The Senator's Visit" |
High priority, medium fatality; staff are to immediately prepare the triage in room 453-12 on commencement of this Script at 2213 hrs. Medical intervention will commence at 2259 hrs. Most medical intervention will be aided by autopsy information from previous Script occurrences, attached in Document 453-s21-med.
Pertinent Events:
- At 2213 hrs, a civilian (21-senator) will arrive in SCP-453, accompanied by a retinue of thirteen (13) servants (21-servant-A through -M). The servants will arrive carrying improvised weaponry. On arrival of 21-senator, conversation in the club ceases for four (4) minutes. Three (3) civilians already present (21-assassin-A and -B, 21-activist) withdraw to other corners of the club and confer with uninvolved civilians over the importance of 21-senator's arrival.
- At 2217 hrs, 21-senator's retinue clears him a table near the centre of the room, and he begins demanding extravagant food and drinks. The types of food and drink vary depending on currently available menu items. If insufficiently expensive menu items are available, 21-senator will demand complicated dishes made from ingredients presently available in SCP-453. He has shown the ability to predict accurately exactly what ingredients and cooking methods are possible with the facilities on hand in SCP-453. Despite Foundation efforts to the contrary, 21-senator's orders are always completed at 2227, 2239, and 2250 hrs; this is one of only a few occasions where the Script will directly alter the actions of Foundation staff on site.
- At 2240 hrs, 21-activist will approach 21-senator and begin heckling him regarding the treatment of slaves in █████████, a Roman city. Three (3) minutes into her speech, 21-servant-A, -B, and -C will forcibly remove 21-activist and assault her with their improvised weaponry. She will be left for dead at the side of the main club room at 2259 hrs, and should be taken to triage immediately.
- At 2321 hrs, 21-assassin-A will approach 21-senator, produce a bladed weapon, and attack him. 21-servants-C, -D, -E, and -F will respond immediately, disabling and killing 21-assassin-A. No intervention has, as yet, been able to prevent this.
- At 2345 hrs, 21-assassin-B will incite a bar fight in a gaggle of civilians along the Easternmost wall of the club. Four (4) minutes after starting the commotion, 21-assassin-B will stab 21-servants-A, -B, -D, -F, -J, -K, and -M, running rapidly through the brawl towards 21-senator. 21-servants-B, -F, and -K can be immediately removed as they will be on the edge of the escalating brawl, and should be taken to triage immediately. 21-servant-A can be removed at 2356 hrs, as the crowd moves away, but should be treated for trampling as well. 21-servants-D, -J, and -M will not be retrievable until 0010 hrs, and must receive immediate top-priority attention or die (see Document 453-s21-med).
- At 2350 hrs, 21-assassin-B reaches 21-senator and engages in combat with 21-servant-C. Both receive critical injuries as 21-senator attempts to escape. 21-assassin-B finally disables 21-servant-C and charges at 21-senator at 2353 hrs, stabbing him in the neck. Any attempts to recover 21-senator or 21-servant-C have met with further violence and casualties from 21-assassin-B, and should not be attempted.
- From 2355 to 0115 hrs, the bar brawl continues to escalate. A full list of injuries and possible civilian recovery times is attached in Document 453-s21-med, although no further fatal injuries will be experienced.
- At 0119 hrs, nineteen (19) civilians (21-vigiles-A through -S) will enter SCP-453, all armed with improvised weapons and shields, and subdue the crowd using tactics believed to be consistent with Roman Vigiles. The 21-vigiles will then clear out the club. Injured civilians can be recovered as they exit the club, and will not exhibit any further Scripted behaviour. SCP-453 may be locked at 0200 hrs following an instance of Script 21; all staff should immediately report to triage to aid medical staff.
Aftermath: No participants in Script 21 show any memory of the actual events. All remember being involved in a violent bar fight, and remember that some people were badly hurt. Other memories are fuzzy, consistent with serious intoxication.
Notes: This is one of the historically most common events, having occurred for as long as the Foundation has known about this site. It has diminished somewhat in frequency. As the most violent of the common Scripted events, it is required that all SCP-453 staff be completely familiar with the exact sequence of all events in this Script, both for their own safety and to diminish civilian casualties as much as possible.
Experiment Log 453-s21: Special: To date, any attempted intervention in Script 21 has resulted in either neutral results (such as being unable to change the time required to prepare 21-senator's meals) or SCP-453 staff becoming part of the Scripted events, in which case the staff invariably suffers serious injuries. Further testing has been denied pending Level 4 authorisation. Previous logs are available on request.
Script 82: "The Plurality Cult" |
Top priority, high fatality; if no known Script has manifested by 0000 hrs, staff are advised to prepare for the possibility of a Script 82 event; a weapons check is advised, followed by donning of riot gear and gas masks treated to resist type-14 neurotoxin. Civilians are to be told the riot gear is part of a theme night, and issued nonfunctional decorative goggles if they wish to participate.
Pertinent Events: Script 82 will not manifest until 0200 hrs; until this time, SCP-453 will be fully inactive, and events entirely mundane.
- At 0201 hrs, one attendee (82-prime) will move to the centre of the room and proclaim, in Latin, "The time of plurality has come". Between 50 to 90% of the other civilians in the club (hereafter referred to as 82-cultists) will respond, "We embrace the many." Note: Any Foundation staff observed to reply in kind are to be terminated immediately and without hesitation by the nearest staff member. At this stage, Intervention 453-82 "Pariah" is to commence. The following sequence of events is a summary of Pariah. SCP-453 staff must read and memorise the attached full protocol.
- At the selection of 82-prime, staff observers will identify civilians who did not respond to 82-prime's announcement using software provided for this purpose. These civilians will be flagged on the HUD's of all Foundation personnel riot helmets. Priority 1 is to secure these civilians and remove them to Holding Area 453-11. Holding Area 453-11 is to be secured by no fewer than two (2) armed personnel. Any 82-cultists approaching within 5 meters of Holding Area 453-11 should be met with lethal force.
- Should the number of uninvolved civilians be too great to contain in Holding Area 453-11 before 0215 hrs, either due to space or staff restrictions, all Foundation personnel are ordered to cease attempting to contain civilians, and instead begin subduing any and all 82-cultists. Nonlethal force is preferred (cultists must be rendered unconscious or completely restrained), but lethal force is authorised, and encouraged if Pariah is proceeding slower than anticipated. 82-prime must not be harmed or interrupted in any way.
- Between 0201 and 0225 hrs, 82-prime will lead the 82-cultists in a Latin chant. They will not respond to attacks by Foundation staff, and unaffected civilians will act as though nothing is going on. At 0225 hrs, if either: (1) all civilians have been contained, and/or (2) all 82-cultists have been subdued, the Script will end with 82-prime laughing hysterically, toasting the club, and returning to normal. The rest of the evening will proceed as though SCP-453 were a mundane club, and all participants will dissipate before 0400 hrs.
- If, by 0225 hrs (cessation of chanting), there remain any civilians and 82-cultists (complete elimination of one or the other faction is sufficient prevention) in SCP-453, Pariah is to be immediately aborted and all staff are to engage all non-Foundation personnel inside SCP-453 (civilians and 82-cultists) - with the exception of 82-prime - with maximum prejudice. Observation personnel are to trigger release of type-14 neurotoxic gas into SCP-453. 82-prime is, as previously, not to be attacked (note that 82-prime has proven resistant to type-14 neurotoxic gas. No other gas types are authorised). If 82-prime is harmed in any way, or if any civilians or 82-cultists remain active by 0230 hrs, observation personnel are required to activate site self-destruct mechanisms immediately.
- If, by 0300 hrs, contact with SCP-453 has been lost without registration of a successful self-destruct, observational staff are required to notify all Foundation listening posts by transmission frequency [REDACTED]. Advise potential █K-class scenario.
Aftermath: No surviving participants will remember Script 82, remembering only a pleasant night at the club, even if operation Pariah failed, with the exception of 82-prime. Those who participated as 82-prime will have recurring nightmares featuring [DATA EXPUNGED], typically leading to loss of sleep, decreased productivity, and eventual insanity. For this reason, staff should capture former 82-prime participants as they leave the club and remit them to Site-██ for therapy and monitoring.
Notes: Despite the severity of this Script, Pariah is typically extremely effective. An abort has not been necessary since ██/██/19██, and a full failure has not been observed since 16/12/1857. However, reports indicate that Script 82 has become increasingly common since [DATA EXPUNGED].


text: FIGURE S2. Southern Hemisphere height-longitude sections at 60°S for height anomalies (contour) and temperature anomalies (shaded). Positive values are indicated by solid contours and dark shading, while negative anomalies are indicated by dashed contours and light shading. Contour interval for height anomalies is 60 m and for temperature anomalies is 2°C. Anomalies are calculated from the 1979–95 base period monthly means.


text:
Moravian Instruments C2-9000 CMOS camera with Sony IMX533 sensor
In Stock Product, We Try our best shipping the same day you place the order. (Open Business Day)
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text:
The White House President George W. Bush |
Print this document |
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 18, 2004
Personnel Announcement
President George W. Bush today announced his intention to nominate two individuals, appoint eleven individuals, and designate three individuals to serve in his administration:
The President intends to nominate Robert Allen Pittman, of Florida, to be an Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Human Resources and Administration). Mr. Pittman currently serves as Executive Director of U.S. Oncology, Inc., in Clearwater, Florida. He has worked for the cancer care services company since 1993. Earlier in his career, Mr. Pittman served as Vice President of Human Resources and Administration for Option Care, Inc., in Chicago, Illinois. He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Arkansas. Mr. Pittman is a veteran of the U.S. Navy Reserve.
The President intends to nominate John Ripin Miller, of Washington, for the Rank of Ambassador at Large during his tenure of service as Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons at the Department of State. Mr. Miller has served in this position since 2002. He previously served as Chairman of the Board of the Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based organization devoted to research and writing on international affairs, trade, defense, science, economics, technology, and transportation. From 1985 to 1993, Mr. Miller served in the U.S. House of Representatives. Mr. Miller earned his bachelor's degree from Bucknell University and his master's degree and J.D. from Yale University.
The President intends to appoint the following individuals to be Members of the National Cancer Advisory Board, for a six-year term expiring March 9, 2010:
John Edward Niederhuber of Wisconsin (Public), and Designate Chairman for a two-year term
Kathryn Giusti of Connecticut (Public)
Diana M. Lopez of Florida (Science/Environmental Carcinogenesis)
Carolyn D. Runowicz of Connecticut (Science)
Daniel Von Hoff of Arizona (Science/Environmental Carcinogenesis)
The President intends to appoint the following individuals to be Governors of the Board of Governors of the American National Red Cross, for a three-year term:
Bonnie McElveen-Hunter of North Carolina, and upon appointment Designate Principal Officer
Secretary of Commerce Donald Louis Evans of Texas
Secretary of Education Roderick R. Paige of Texas
Secretary of State Colin Luther Powell of Virginia
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony Joseph Principi of California
Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy G. Thompson of Wisconsin
The President intends to designate Jerry D. Jennings, of Michigan, to be United States Co-Chairman of the United States-Russian Joint Commission on POW/MIAs.
# # #


text:
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For further information about the KORDON Termite Barrier
Home Builders vs Termites
- article on Avoiding
Legal Liabilities
Kordon Termite Barrier
- CSIRO Appraisal - Kordon Physical Termite Barrier System
Kordon Termite Barrier > Checklist
> Builders Responsibility
Kordon Termite Barrier
> Bayer Installation Manual
Kordon Termite Barrier
> Product Safety Sheet
Kordon Termite Barrier > Installation
> Concrete Slab > Bearers & Joists
Kordon Termite Barrier > Installation
> External Perimeter
Kordon Termite Barrier
> Example of Meter Box Sticker
Kordon Termite Barrier > Termites Fact Sheet
> Biology & Distribution
Guide to Home Builders > Termite Issues
> Australian Govt publication
Home Builders > Termite Control
> Qld Building Services Authority
Australian Building Codes Board
> Termite Control Requirements


text:
SNOW HILL – Ocean City has requested the third highest tax set-off in Maryland and is asking for the highest percentage of reduction in the entire state, Worcester County Treasurer Harold Higgins said this week when he presented the staff analysis of the Ocean City tax differential report to the County Commissioners.
Staff findings refuted the Ocean City-commissioned tax differential report, concluding that in nine of 13 categories where the resort contends taxpayers are being charged twice the resort's taxpayers do benefit directly or indirectly.
Only Anne Arundel ($16.5 million) and Prince Georges ($14.2 million) counties provide a larger amount of tax set-off to their municipalities overall, compared to Ocean City's request for $13.9 million in tax relief.
"Worcester County would have the third highest tax set-off in the state," said Assistant Finance Officer Phil Thompson.
The Anne Arundel County set-off is only 1.1 percent of the county budget, while the Prince George's County tax set-off is 0.55 percent of its total budget.
Ocean City has asked for a 9.6-percent tax set-off.
The state average tax set-off is 0.719 percent.
"The Ocean City request is 13 times the state average," Thompson said.
"The county departments have concerns with many of the assumptions made in this study," said Higgins.
The resort requested $4.2 million in tax set-off in the law enforcement category. According to the staff report, the Worcester County Sheriff's Office patrols Ocean City's borders every day; transports prisoners from across the state, 65 percent of which relate to Ocean City cases; steps up patrols and supports resort police during special events; and keeps the roads to Ocean City safe.
Under emergency services (tax set-off requested $1.5 million), Worcester County operates the 911 emergency center for the entire county. Ocean City is the back-up center for the county 911 service and has received communication equipment worth millions of dollars.
Ocean City also receives services from seven other county departments: Public Works, Development Review and Permitting, Comprehensive Planning, Environmental Programs, Recreation and Parks and Tourism. The town also benefits from county debt service, staff say.
"The implication was, 'we do everything, nobody else does a damn thing,' which is false," Commissioner Virgil Shockley said.
Higgins said a tax differential could mean eliminating town grants in the county budget.
"The Ocean City request creates a $13.9 million void in our budget," Higgins said. "We may well have to eliminate grants to towns. We may have to eliminate grants to Ocean City."
Ocean City receives $2 million in Worcester County grants over and above state requirements.
Consultants from the Municipal and Financial Services Group of Annapolis, which prepared the Ocean City tax differential study, never contacted county staff, according to Shockley.
"They never bothered calling anybody at the county," Shockley said. "They took the budget and they just stayed with the numbers from the budget and never asked for an explanation for anything."
Higgins said the request is far reaching.
"Ocean City's request doesn't just affect the residents of Ocean City, it effects each and every one of Worcester County's residents," Higgins said.
The population outside the resort, 41,000 people, would see large increases in their property taxes, while 7,000 Ocean City residents would see decreases, if the budget remained the same as last year, according to Higgins.
The owner of a $600,000 home in Ocean City would save $360, while the owner of a $600,000 home outside the resort would pay an additional $360.
"There doesn't seem to be any fairness in that," said Commissioner Linda Busick.
Many Ocean City property owners supporting the tax differential are non-resident and do not benefit from the homestead tax credit. Those property owners pay taxes on the full value of any increase in tax assessments. "These are people who have very expensive property and they have the luxury of affording second homes," Busick said.
The commissioners did not discuss the staff's report after the presentation concluded.
"That's the first time we'd seen it so we had to take it in and look it over," said Commissioner Louise Gulyas later in the week. "I have a lot of questions about it. I want more figures. I want to sit down and take it apart."
Busick said she's still considering the tax differential.
"Perhaps there is some room to talk about what they need," Busick said. "Perhaps we can provide some additional funds to Ocean City. I wouldn't close the door on it, but I certainly don't see doing it in this form."
Shockley said some relief could be considered, perhaps at the level of the average state tax differential.
The commissioners and staff are planning to meet with their Ocean City counterparts before the next commissioner meeting on March. 5.